This goes without saying but the New Orleans Saints put together their best, most complete, most balanced, best-executed game of the season against Tampa Bay.

The offense can't get more balanced. The Saints ran 32 times and passed 32 times. They gained 212 yards on the ground and 263 through the air. They averaged a season-high 7.4 yards a play.

Defensively, they held Tampa Bay to 42 rushing yards on 18 carries for a 2.3-yard average and forced three fumbles. They only recovered one, but if they continue to hawk the ball eventually it will bounce their way.

In short, the Saints, for the first time this season, looked like the team that won Super Bowl XLIV.

And considering they did it without Darren Sharper, Reggie Bush, Tracy Porter, Pierre Thomas, Scott Shanle, Randall Gay and Clint Ingram, well, that can't be good news for the rest of the NFL.

In 60 dominant minutes, the Saints re-established themselves as the team to beat in the NFC South and perhaps the NFC.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Chris Ivory garnered the headlines but the offensive line should have shared it with the rookie runner. The front five completely dominated the Bucs' defensive line and exposed their lack of size and experience. The Saints averaged 6.6 yards a carry and did not allow a sack in 32 pass attempts. In fact, Drew Brees hardly was touched on the afternoon. A dominant performance across the board and a welcome one for a unit that was taking some heat for their early-season performance.

PRESSURE REPORT: The Saints came after Josh Freeman on nearly every third down. For the most part, defensive coordinator Gregg Williams used the linebackers in his pressures, but he later turned loose his safeties on blitzes, as well. The Saints only recorded one sack, but they consistently pressured Freeman, hurried his throws, moved him off his landmark or disrupted his timing. It was a classic case of affecting the quarterback without sacking him.

SCOUTING REPORT: A couple of years ago some Saints fans wanted the club to pursue safety Sean Jones in free agency, but after watching the tape of Sunday's game it's easy to see why they didn't show much interest. The Saints exploited Jones downfield in the passing attack and as a run defender. Jones didn't have a good day in either aspect.

ZEBRA REPORT: Payton was clearly upset at Clete Blakeman's crew for letting the game get out of control in the fourth quarter, but the crew did a decent job of calling the game otherwise. I actually thought they made the proper calls on Malcolm Jenkins. I don't think he was trying to take a cheap shot at Freeman, but he clearly hit him out of bounds and then punched Freeman in the face during the ensuing melee. Jenkins was fortunate he was not ejected for taking the swing, as Stanley Arnoux was a few minutes later.

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS:

FIRST QUARTER:

You can see why the Buccaneers are touting wide receiver Mike Williams for Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. The kid can play. He made a Marques Colston-like catch to convert the Bucs' first third down. Now Leigh Torrence probably felt like he was at practice with Brees and Colston on that seeing-eye Freeman strike to the leaping rookie.

Interesting comment from Tim Ryan early in the game, saying the Saints changed their techniques along the defensive line to try to improve their run defense. He said the Saints are playing "more 3-4-type, head-up shades along the back side, almost 2-gap principles." So far, it's worked. The Saints have improved from 30th to 16th in run defense the past two weeks.

The Saints came after rookie punter Robert Malone, who was making his first NFL start after being signed four days earlier to replace Chris Bryan. Malcolm Jenkins and newly signed Chris Giordano rushed through the A gap over center and past protector Cody Grimm. Jenkins had a clean shot at the block but missed the ball as he raced past Malone to his right.

Poor decision by Lance Moore to not field Malone's punt, which bounced at the Saints' 18 and was downed at the 6. That's 12 hidden yards lost.

Ivory showed nice vision to cut back his opening carry of the game. He picked up a pair of nice blocks by Jeremy Shockey and Jermon Bushrod, and then just simply outran the Bucs defense to the edge.

Very uncharacteristic move by Brees to lose track of the play clock and take a delay of game penalty, right after the Saints had been flagged 5 yards for a false start.

Pass plays don't get much prettier than the 41-yard touchdown connection between Brees and Moore on a go route down the right sideline. Moore beat Aqib Talib, the Bucs' top cover corner, with a clean release outside, and Brees placed the ball perfectly over the rangy Talib's leaping grasp at the 11-yard line. The Bucs, like the Cardinals, chose to double-team Colston, who was running a skinny post pattern, leaving Moore in single coverage on Talib.

Savvy veteran move by Danny Clark to not rough Freeman after his release on a second-down incompletion on Tampa Bay's second series. Clark came free on a blitz from Freeman's blindside but arrived just late but wisely pulled up before lowering the boom on the quarterback, which surely would have resulted in a personal foul infraction. Smart.

Remi Ayodele bullied new center Jeremy Zuttah to drop Kareem Huggins for a 2-yard loss on second down. Zuttah was starting his first game at center in place of former Saint, Jeff Faine, who was sidelined with a pulled quadriceps muscle.

I think officials missed the call on Jon Vilma when they ruled he was offsides on third-and-12. It looked like the veteran linebacker anticipated the snap count so well it threw off the refs. And Zuttah's slow, wobbly shotgun snap only exacerbated the situation.

Ivory pile-drove cornerback Ronde Barber on his third carry, a power play off the left side. Barber didn't look like he knew what hit him as he ended up on his back after Ivory's 6-yard blast.

SECOND QUARTER:

Colston again drew the attention of a Bucs safety, this time Grimm, to set up another long touchdown pass to a teammate. Robert Meachem was the beneficiary of the score as Grimm zeroed in on Colston, who was running down the seam on the hash mark, allowing Meachem to beat Talib to the corner for his second touchdown catch of the season. Meachem did a nice job of "widening" his route once he beat Talib to allow Brees a larger window to throw down the sideline. On both touchdown passes, Brees did an excellent job of "holding" the safeties inside the hash marks with his eyes before unloading his pass outside.

Jeff Charleston has really played the run well since seeing his playing time increased in recent weeks. A perfect example came on Tampa Bay's third-and-1 misdirection play, a "Flip 90" play designed to fool the defense with a fake to the fullback going right followed by a wide flip to the tailback going left. Charleston was not fooled and stayed "at home" to tackle Carnell Williams for a 3-yard gain. He didn't prevent the first down, but he did prevent a big play.

Roman Harper did a nice job of blowing up another third-and-1 in the backfield, but Williams was able to re-direct and get slide for a 1-yard gain and the first down. Fullback Erik Lorig took out Harper with the block and Harper didn't take kindly to the extracurricular mustard Lorig put on him while driving him to the ground. This was the first sign of "chippyness" so far. More to come.

The earth moved when Ayodele leaped to try to knock down a Freeman incompletion on second down. High is a relative term when it comes to jumping, but Ayodele showed some impressive athletic ability for a 318-pound man.

The Saints employed an unusual package in most passing situations. Tackles Anthony Hargrove and Sedrick Ellis are the only down linemen. Ends Alex Brown and Will Smith align in a stand-up position over the center in the A gap. The rest of the linebackers and safeties roam the line of scrimmage looking for a lane or mismatch. The package did exactly what it was designed to do on a third-and-8 pass attempt. It confused the protection scheme of the Bucs' young line. Jenkins was unblocked on a blitz from the left slot and forced a hurried incompletion by Freeman.

Anyone concerned about Brees' arm strength or shoulder should watch his second-down pass to Meachem on the Saints' second series. With pressure in his face, he fired a 51-yard bomb that actually outdistanced the streaking Meachem downfield.

Payton dialed up a new play to convert a third-and-10. Rookie tight end Jimmy Graham made his first appearance of the game and was aligned in the right slot. At the snap, he hesitated as if he were going to block, then released into the right flat to catch a quick swing pass from Brees. The right side was cleared out by Colston and Ladell Betts, who took their men downfield with go routes. Graham picked up a nice block from Jon Stinchcomb and rambled for the first down on the first catch of his NFL career.

Terrific blocks by Stinchcomb and Colston sealed the edge and gave Ivory room to rumble on a 33-yard run around the right end. No defender touched him until he was 22 yards downfield. Ivory showed tremendous acceleration once he got his shoulders squared and beat cornerback E.J. Biggers to the sideline.

More excellent blocking by the front line cleared a path for Ivory on his 8-yard burst off right guard. The interior line, in particular left guard Carl Nicks who sealed Ryan Sims, owned the line of scrimmage, and David Thomas did a nice job of taking out middle linebacker Barrett Ruud to open a lane for Ivory, who ran through an arm tackle by Sean Jones.

New Saint Julius Jones showed a nice burst on his first carry, a 16-yard run off left guard. Jones made a nice read and cut back on the play. Nicks drove McCoy two yards downfield to completely open up the left side of the field for Jones' cutback.

Payton said he wanted to get Graham involved as a potential red-zone target, and he showed that on third-and-5 from the Bucs' 10. The Saints got what they wanted, the 6-6 Graham in single coverage against the 5-10 Ronde Barber, but Brees' back-shoulder throw was not placed very well, resulting in an incompletion. I expect to see Brees and Graham working on this pattern a lot in practice in the coming days.

The Saints did a good job of forcing Freeman to try low-percentage throws downfield to his receivers in single coverage against Saints defensive backs. It was a smart gamble. The Bucs have talent, but it's inexperienced talent. Young receivers Williams, Sammie Stroughter and Arrelious Benn need time to synchronize these kinds of plays with Freeman, who is just in his second season. The Saints exploited this inexperience. Smart game-planning.

The Bucs use Barber as a linebacker in sub packages and the Saints went after the 14-year veteran a handful of times when he was matched against their tight ends. The crafty Barber held his own for the most part but Brees was able to hit Shockey for a 12-yard gain against him on first down.

The Saints took advantage of a bad sequence of plays by the Bucs defense to move into field goal range before the half. First, the Bucs curiously left Shockey uncovered on second-and-10 and Brees hit him for an easy 9-yard pass. Then Tampa Bay got caught trying to substitute its short-yardage personnel into the game on third-and-1 and the Saints used a hurry-up offense to snap the ball before the defense was properly aligned and easily convert the first down on a quarterback sneak. A lot of confusion by the Bucs on this series.

Nice play by Bucs linebacker Quincy Black to tip Brees' pass for an interception before halftime. Black is an underrated player and he continues to play well in Tampa.

THIRD QUARTER:

Ivory isn't thought of as a great receiver, but the Saints might want to get him involved more on screens and swing plays. He showed a nice burst in the open field on the 17-yard swing reception on first down to get the Saints out of an early hole.

The Bucs didn't get any pressure on Brees in the first half so they went to a zone blitz on the first third down of the second half and Brees burned them by hitting Colston on a crossing route against defensive end Greg White. Can you say mismatch?

Devery Henderson isn't known as a great blocker but he waylaid Geno Hayes to seal the edge for Ivory on his 11-yard run around the right end. He's sure to get an "Atta Boy!" in film study this week for that crack.

Good offensive pass interference call by line judge Jeff Seeman on Graham for pushing off on Black before making a 13-yard touchdown catch. Payton said Monday Graham also has done this in practice. It's a technique Graham obviously needs to work on because the Saints clearly want to get him involved in the red zone.

After Garrett Hartley struggled early in the year a lot of fans questioned the Saints because they set him up on the right hash mark for his kicks. Well, on his miss from 33 yards he was aligned on the left hash mark. Payton insisted there was nothing wrong with the snap and hold, but it looked like Chase Daniel immediately reacted after the kick and Hartley seemed puzzled afterward, talking with Daniel and long snapper Jason Kyle. It's possible Daniel didn't get the ball spun with the laces out because the ball's trajectory was odd.

Harper and Jo-Lonn Dunbar combined to force a fumble by Williams at the end of a short run. Dunbar was trying to strip the ball while tackling Williams, and Harper knocked it out with a big hit from behind.

Excellent blocking and execution by the offensive line to form a huge lane for Ivory to convert a third-and-4 run. This play was the definition of a "hat on a hat." Strong lead blocks by Bushrod and Goodwin and Evans pretty much pancaked McCoy, who spent a lot of time on the ground for a first-round pick.

Nice pick play to free Heath Evans for his first touchdown of the season. Thomas picked off Ruud with a crossing pattern, allowing Evans to slip into the right flat for the easy touchdown catch.

Greer appeared to injure his left shoulder while making a tackle on Kellen Winslow Jr. late in the quarter. He ran off the field on his own but clearly was favoring his left shoulder. Payton said Monday night the injury is not as serious as they originally feared. It's possible Greer could be held out of Sunday's game against Cleveland as a precautionary measure, though.

Outstanding play by rookie cornerback Patrick Robinson to drill Michael Spurlock for a 2-yard loss on the final play of the quarter. He showed the speed and acceleration that made him a first-round pick.

FOURTH QUARTER:

Marvin Mitchell might have gotten away with pass interference on a key third-down pass to Williams out of the backfield. Looked like he face-guarded Williams to prevent the big catch.

Not sure whether FOX had a mic on the goal post or if it was just an indictment of the sleepy, small crowd at Raymond James Stadium, but I've never heard a ball hit an upright with such loud thuds as Connor Barth's two field-goal attempts in this game.

The Bucs sent Barber on a blitz to blow up a "kill-shot" bomb attempt by Brees on first down after Barth's miss. It was a curious call. The Saints owned a healthy 24-0 lead and clearly were running the ball well. At this point, they just needed to run out the clock. Instead, the Saints go for a deep ball. Not only does Brees almost get blind-sided by Barber, but Stinchcomb got his knee rolled under on the play. Not sure about that call.

Betts lowered the boom on Ruud at the end of a short screen reception, completely running over the Pro Bowl linebacker. Betts didn't see nearly as much action this week after his poor outing in Arizona but showed some want-to on that play.

Outstanding pitching wedge shot by Thomas Morstead to down a 46-yard punt at the Bucs 12.

Freeman took offense to Jenkins' hit near the sideline not because it was late but because it occurred near his knee. Saints defenders hit Bucs receivers two or three times earlier with low blows to the knee area, including a hit by Mitchell that knocked Kareem Huggins from the game. Winslow also got up gimpy after a couple of submarine shots by Harper. The Bucs finally had had enough and Freeman went after Jenkins, who was whistled for an unnecessary roughness penalty for the late hit and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for taking a swing at Freeman. The result was 30 yards in penalties. Instead of a fourth-and-7 at the Saints' 47, the Bucs had a first-and-10 at the 17. Tampa Bay scored their only points six plays later.

Excellent goal-line defense by Jenkins and Mitchell, penetrating into the backfield to drop Williams and Freeman for losses on back-to-back plays inside the 5.

Torrence had inside leverage on Spurlock and still allowed him to beat him inside on the in the route for the score. Alex Brown was unblocked on the rush but left his feet on Freeman's pump fake, giving the quarterback just enough time to find Spurlock in the back of the end zone.

Nice pass break-up by Robinson in single coverage on Mike Williams in the left corner of the end zone. Robinson is gaining confidence weekly.

The Bucs attempted their own version of the "Ambush" onside kick and almost capitalized when Torrence bailed on the play and allowed Corey Lynch a clean shot to recover it. It looked like Torrence thought Barth was going to kick the ball to the right side and was surprised when the kick came his way to the left. Fortunately for the Saints, Lynch misplayed the ball and Giordano was there to make the recovery. Officials called the Bucs for offsides on the kickoff - perhaps incorrectly -- so it wouldn't have mattered anyway.

Ivory showed his speed earlier in the game. On his 27-yard run on second down, he showed power, running through tackles by Jones, Black and Barber before Brian Price finally brought him down. Part of the reason Ivory broke the tackle was his reputation as a fumbler. You could see the Bucs defenders trying to tackle the ball instead of Ivory. It should be noted that a pair of excellent blocks at the point of attack by Heath Evans and Zach Strief sprung Ivory.

It took four plays but the Saints finally punched in a red-zone score on a 1-yard plunge by Betts. He followed a nice block by Stinchcomb on Sims into the end zone for his first score as a Saint.

PERSONNEL BREAKDOWN: Payton told Fox analysts he would have been "agitated" if Ivory didn't run for 100 yards against the Bucs, so he obviously compiled a game plan heavy on run sets. The Saints opened the game with three consecutive runs and ran only 26 plays in multiple-receiver sets. That might be a season-low total. Contrastingly, fullback Heath Evans played a season-high 22 snaps. This was not a big game for the tight ends. Clearly, Payton felt like he could exploit the Bucs' weak run defense and their corners outside, and he went after both aggressively. The Saints also continued to increase Meachem's workload. For the first time this season, he played more reps than both Henderson and Moore, in part because of his use as a blocker on run downs.

Here's a look at the Saints' personnel packages on their 64 offensive snaps:3WR/1TE/1RB - 20 out of 64 plays2WR/1TE/2RB - 13 out of 641WR/2TE/2RB - 12 out of 642WR/2TE/1RB - 12 out of 644WR/1TE - 4 out of 643WR/2TE - 1 out of 643WR/2RB - 1 out of 642TE/1RB/1FB/1S - 1 out of 64